John Jay College Of Criminal Justice | The City University of New York

The Justice Studies major offers students the opportunity to explore fundamental questions about justice from a humanistic, interdisciplinary perspective. Rooted in history, literature and philosophy, justice studies prepares students for basic inquiry and advanced research into issues of justice that lie behind social policy and criminal justice as well as broader problems of social morality and equity. Its courses are designed to help students develop the skills of careful reading, critical thinking and clear writing that are necessary for the pursuit of any professional career. This major provides an excellent preparation for law school and other professional programs, for graduate school in the humanities, and for careers in law, education, public policy and criminal justice.

The justice studies curriculum involves a sequence of five interdisciplinary core courses in Humanities and Justice (designated with the HJS prefix); six courses from a list of humanities courses in history, literature, or philosophy (HIS, LIT, PHI), and a choice of one of two courses on theory.

Some details:
Part 1. Disciplinary Foundations
Part 2. The Disciplinary Component
Part 3. Topics In Criminal Justice (Interdisciplinary – Two Courses)
Part 4. Problems And Research

Credits required: 36

Prerequisites: ENG 101-102 or ENG 101-201; one of the required general education courses in literature, history, or philosophy; one of the required general education courses in the social sciences and upper-sophomore standing. HJS 250: Justice in the Western Traditions is the required first course in the major.

Please note: GOV 101 is a prerequisite for GOV 375 and LAW 203 or GOV 230 is a prerequisite for LAW 301 (Part 3 of the major requires either GOV 375 or LAW 301).

Advisor and Program Coordinator: Professor Bettina Carbonell, Department of English (212.237.8702, bcarbonell@jjay.cuny.edu). Students must review their course of study with an advisor.

Additional Information. Students who enrolled for the first time at the College in September 2008 or thereafter must complete the major in the form presented here. Students who enrolled prior to that date may choose the form shown here or the earlier version of the major. A copy of the earlier version may be obtained at the Office of Undergraduate Studies or at the Lloyd George Sealy Library.

Senior-level requirement: Students must complete HJS 410 Text and Theory: Senior Prospectus and HJS 415 Research Project in Humanities and Justice Studies.

PART 1. FOUNDATIONS

Subtotal: 9 credits

Humanities and Justice 250 Justice in the Western Traditions
Humanities and Justice 310 Comparative Perspectives on Justice
Humanities and Justice 315 Research Methods in Humanities and Justice Studies

PART 2. THE DISCIPLINARY COMPONENT

Subtotal: 18 credits

History and/or Literature and/or Philosophy (six courses)

Students take six advanced elective courses in one or more of the humanities disciplines in order to explore how the fundamental assumptions, methods and general subject matter of these disciplines relate to issues of justice. These courses will be chosen by the student, in consultation with an advisor, from the following list or from a designated list of other humanities courses being taught in any particular semester. Permission by the Justice Studies Coordinator is required for any course not listed below in Categories A, B, or C to count toward the major. A minimum of 12 credits must be taken at the 300-level or above.

Category A. History Courses
African-American Studies History 275 African-American Military History and Social Justice
History 217 Three Hundred Years of New York City: A History of the Big Apple
History 219 Violence and Social Change in America
History 224 A History of Crime in New York City
History 260/Latin American and Latina/o Studies 260 History of Contemporary Cuba
History 277 American Legal History
History 290 Selected Topics in History*
History 320 The History of Crime and Punishment in the United States
History 325 Criminal Justice in European Society, 1750 to the Present

Category B. Literature Courses
Literature 223/African-American StudiesLiterature 223 African-American Literature
Literature 290 Selected Topics*
Literature 313 Shakespeare
Literature 314 Shakespeare and Justice
Literature 315 American Literature and the Law
Literature 316 Gender and Identity in Western Literary Traditions
Literature 327 Crime and Punishment in Literature
Literature 340/African-American Studies Literature 340 African American Experience in America: Comparative Racial Perspectives
Literature 390 Individual Reading*
Literature 401 Special Topics*
Spanish 208 The Theme of Justice in 20th-Century Spanish Literature

Category C. Philosophy Courses
Philosophy 203 Political Philosophy
Philosophy 302 Philosophical Issues of Rights
Philosophy 304 Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy 310/Law 310 Ethics and Law
Philosophy 322 Judicial and Correctional Ethics
Philosophy 326 Topics in the History of Modern Thought
Philosophy 340 Utopian Thought
Philosophy 423/Government 423 Selected Topics in Justice

PART 3. TOPICS IN POLITICAL OR LEGAL THEORY

Subtotal: 3 credits

Select one
Government 375 Law, Order, Justice and Society or Law 301 Jurisprudence

PART 4. PROBLEMS AND RESEARCH

Subtotal: 6 credits

Both are required
Humanities and Justice 410 Text and Theory: Senior Prospectus
Humanities and Justice 415 Research Project in Humanities and Justice Studies

Total: 36 credits

* HIS 290 Selected Topics in History, LIT 290 Selected Topics, LIT 390 Individual Reading and LIT 401 Special Topics may be used to satisfy the six-course requirement of the Disciplinary Component when the topic is applicable to the Justice Studies major. To approve these courses for inclusion in the major, students and/or faculty must petition the program coordinator.